I don't think this can be overstated (about the Rams' defense being able to disguise things): " You can argue that this is something we haven't had in a defense in a long time."
When Wade first came on board he ran a 3-4 with Quinn as one of the OLBs. Everyone knew Quinn was going to rush the passer so the OL set their protections accordingly.
After Quinn the Rams had Fowler at OLB and it was pretty much the same thing. Virtually any time Fowler was on the field he was a pass rusher, again making the pre-snap read pretty routine.
Combined that with Wade's philosophy of 'this is what we do and we're just going to out execute you' the Rams' defense was the epitome of predictable.
Now with Floyd and <fill in the blank> at OLB you have at least introduced an element of uncertainty. Floyd is apparently pretty good at covering RBs and TEs so the pass defense won't suffer if he drops in coverage and Howard or Kiser or the other OLB is the 4th pass rusher. That has to make it harder for the offense to set pass protections.
And if Stley runs the kind of defense I think he will then an offense can't game plan off of what the Rams did last week cuz they will probably do something different this week. And that's just game-to-game. From play to play I expect to see him mix up who is rushing the QB and where they're rushing from.
I expect the combination of a DC with that mindset and the players to put it into practice will definitely let the Rams' D disguise what they're doing.
AlbaNY_Ram
